Life course perspectives on (bi)sexuality

Methodological tools to deprivilege current identities

Bibliographic Data

ID19003906
AuthorsRebecca L Jones (0000-0001-9284-7425, The Open University, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume22
Issue7-8
Pages1071-1093
Publication date2018-11-20
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSexualities (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1363-4607 • E-ISSN: 1461-7382
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1363460718792506
OpenAlexW2811292854
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited45

Scholars of sexuality have known for many years that sexual identity claims do not map neatly on to sexual histories. However, many studies continue to use currently claimed sexual identities as the basis for data collection and analysis, which can erase this complexity, particularly in relation to bisexuality. This article identifies four methodological techniques that help to operationalise theoretical sensitivity around the complex relationship between identities and histories. It does so by bringing together life course perspectives and two mixed methods datasets from older people with bisexual histories. Combining life course perspectives with these unusual datasets makes evident the particular way in which moment-in-time perspectives oversimplify sexuality and privilege monosexual identities. A life course approach thus helps to explain a long-standing puzzle in the study of sexuality: the relative under-claiming of bisexual identities compared to the prevalence of bisexual behaviours. Furthermore, it offers methodological tools that facilitate richer theorisations of sexuality more widely

Aesthetics · Human sexuality · Life course approach · Political science · Sexual identity · Sociology · African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues · Computer Science · Gender Studies · Law · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Psychology · Sex work and related issues · Social Psychology

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